Amusement parks are a great place to see Newton's laws of motion in action. Choose your favorite ride and describe the parts of the ride that illustrate each of Newton's laws of motion.
Answer (2)
Amusement parks are a great place to see Newton's laws of motion in action. A common favourite is the roller coaster.
Newton's First Law of Motion states that an object at rest stays at rest, and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. On a roller coaster, when the car is initially at the top of the first big hill, it is at rest. It remains so until the release mechanism triggers, exemplifying this law.
Newton's Second Law of Motion concerns the relationship between an object's mass, acceleration, and the net force acting on it. This principle is seen as the roller coaster car descends the first hill, increasing in speed due to the gravitational force pulling it down the slope, demonstrating that Force equals mass times acceleration (F=ma).
Newton's Third Law of Motion indicates that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The force exerted by the roller coaster car's wheels on the track is met with an equal and opposite force by the track on the wheels, which allows the car to move along the track smoothly.
A roller coaster effectively demonstrates Newton's laws of motion. It shows the first law through inertia, the second through acceleration due to gravitational force, and the third through the interaction between the coaster and the track. Together, these principles showcase the exciting application of physics in amusement park rides.
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